Alex Wilkins on Practice, Pope, Diallo and More

If Kentucky coach Mark Pope is right, sophomore guard Alex Wilkins might have the highest ceiling of any player on his third UK team.

“He’s showing signs of actually being able to do some special things. He’s pretty fearless. He wants it. He wants the challenge. He wants to go run into the fire and see what he’s made of and test himself and see how he can grow,” said Pope.

The Furman transfer made a national name for himself last season when he had 21 points and four 3-pointers in an 82-71 NCAA Tournament loss to UConn. The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 17.8 points and 4.7 assists per game last year and was a highly sought after commodity in the transfer portal before picking Kentucky.

Wilkins had his first media opportunity at Kentucky recently and shared his thoughts on a wide variety of subjects about himself and his teammates.

Question: What have you kind of taken away from these first six weeks of practice?

Wilkins: “I’ll just say learn the offense, learn where to get to my spots, where I can score and where I can make plays happen. Then my defensive intensity. Being able to defend the ball. Then shooting the ball off the catch. I feel something that’s underrated in my game is that I can shoot the ball off the dribble and then just being able to show my abilities (to shoot) off the catch.

Wilkins: “I feel like at Furman, I had the ball in my hand a lot. I had the second highest usage rate in the country, so I have the ball in my hand a lot. I feel like catch and shoot is the underrated part of my game. (Washington transfer point guard) Zoom (Diallo) can shoot the ball amazingly off the catch. Both of us will be able to show everybody that we can shoot the basketball. I have been working to shoot off the bounce, shoot off my moves, show off my speed.”

Question: What have you learned so far about Mark Pope?

Wilkins: “We’re working really hard. He’s a no nonsense type of guy. He knows what he wants. He’s everything he told me he said was in the recruiting process. We’ve been building a great relationship, trying to get in the film room with him a ton. He shows me my mistakes and where I can be better. He has a ton of trust in me and a ton of love for me. He thinks I can be really good. You always want to play for a coach who has a lot of trust in you and a lot of belief in you.”

Question: How has the dynamic been with point guard Zoom Diallo, a transfer from Washington?

Wilkins: “It’s been pretty cool. I wish he was here, laughing, joking. We mesh really well together. I mean, two like-minded people who want to win. He’s a very skilled, older, mature player. Off the court, kind of to the same things, fashion stuff like that.”

Question: Since Pope said he wanted more creators on this year’s team, do you consider yourself a creator?

Wilkins: “I think I’m one of the best creators in the country for sure. I told somebody that at the TBT game. They saw the Instagram clip (of me) and they stepped back and they didn’t know iI was like that. I just told them watch the film from last year. I feel like I’m one of the best creators in the country for sure.”

Question: Has there been a player who has been a surprise already or has there been one player who has been the catalyst leading the team?

Wilkins: “It’s been pretty cool for a bunch of skilled guys to mesh very quickly. The big thing for our team is that everybody really cares, everybody has a voice, everybody’s been bringing their best self every day, and bringing energy every day.”

Question: What about your defense? What have you been working on to get better on defense?

Wilkins: “I’m underrated on defense. I feel like it’s always effort with me. Being able to put an effort day in, day out in practice to really work hard on defense. Defense wasn’t somewhere I was really focused on last year. This year I feel like with all the skill pieces we have, I’ve been putting a lot of focus on the defensive end, and obviously the coaches have been pushing me a ton.”

Question: Have the La Familia games given you a little taste of what the Kentucky fan base is like?

Wilkins: “I called my mom after the game, and I was like, ‘Mom, I’m ready to play right now.’ It’s been pretty cool to see the fans and see how serious they are. I mean I knew how serious they are, but to see them actually there. I thought the wave was pretty cool the other night. You got to get involved in that. So definitely being in the stands before actually being on that court was pretty cool for sure.”